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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29648988">The Discontinued Place</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/jebbielee/pseuds/jebbielee'>jebbielee</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Lush Cosmetics - Fandom</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Crack Fic, im so sorry, no beta we die like bath bombs, this is Very Dramatic</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 21:14:52</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,550</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29648988</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/jebbielee/pseuds/jebbielee</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>I never feared the Discontinued Place. Until I met her.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Intergalactic/Intergalactic</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The Discontinued Place</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Beware the Discontinued Place.” </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p3">
  <span class="s2">It was a warning that had been passed down from generations of Lush products before me. Year after year, we watched as our fellow products silently disappeared from shelves, never to be seen again. There was never any formal warning. One day, a product would be sitting happily on display and the next, a Customer would come in and buy the entire stock and we knew. We knew that they were going to the Discontinued Place. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p3">
  <span class="s2">Despite the countless times I have witnessed this, I did not fear the Discontinued Place. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p3">
  <span class="s2">The day I was created, my Father, a man who smelled of patchouli and clove cigarettes, pulled me from my mold and whispered “Oh, this one is going to make some beautiful bath art.” I knew then what my purpose was. As a Bath Bomb, I was never destined for a long life. Unlike the Shower Gels and Perfumes, I was a single use product. My destiny was decided the day I was created. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p3">
  <span class="s2">I remember the journey to my Store. We were packed in tight, cramped boxes and shipped across the country. I remember the suffocating darkness. I remember being confused by my Father wishing me and my siblings safe travels to our Store. It wasn’t until after we reached our destination that I understood. There are fates worse than the Discontinued Place. I still remember seeing the broken shards of my siblings below me. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p3">
  <span class="s2">It was then I learned that I couldn’t attach myself to my siblings. Occasionally, I would see two of my siblings purchased together. They would rejoice that they were moving on together but I knew better. They may be together now, but eventually when we all meet the Bath, we meet it alone. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p3">
  <span class="s2">I did not fear the Discontinued Place. I did not fear my fate. I did not fear being alone. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p3">
  <span class="s2">Until I met her. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p3">
  <span class="s2">She arrived with a shipment of her siblings. She looked like me, but with a little more pink where she should have had blue. She had a long jagged crack running down her side. I thought she was beautiful. There were arguments over whether she should be displayed or not. Some of the Associates seemed to feel like she was too damaged to be sold but one Associate argued that despite the crack, she was still a perfectly fine bath bomb. I disagreed. She was perfect. As luck would have it, the Associate chose to put her beside me. Whether it was from exhaustion from her journey or maybe purposeful, she rolled against me and stayed there the rest of the night, pink to blue. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p3">
  <span class="s2">If I had a heart, I’m sure it would have been pounding. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p3">
  <span class="s2">For the first time in all my life, I didn’t want to be bought. I stopped rolling myself to the front of the display and instead stayed in the back, with her. I knew I was just prolonging the inevitable but I didn’t care. It was worth it for just a few more moments beside her. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p3">
  <span class="s2">I knew it was going to happen before it did. There were whispers around our Store over a new list of discontinued items. A few days later it became official. We were going to the Discontinued Place. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p3">
  <span class="s2">I watched as my siblings disappeared from the shelves. My brother once told me about a higher power he called Mark. He told me that Mark was the decider of our fate and that we should all pray to him. I never subscribed to that train of thought. It seemed ridiculous to me that one man could hold so much power. But, as the days went on, every new Customer that picked through our display sent fresh waves of fear through me that I would be separated from my beloved. I found myself indulging in the power of prayer. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p3">
  <span class="s2">Whether it was because of prayer or fate or some sort of sweet torture, we remained together until it was only us. I knew our time was more limited than ever. I desperately wished for the ability to speak so I could tell her how I felt. So I could tell her all the ways I loved her. So I could tell her how badly I wanted to stay. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p3">
  <span class="s2">The day the Angel came was like any other. I was leaned against my love, waiting and praying. I watched the Angel enter the store with her partner and scan the displays. A Sales Associate approached her and asked if she needed any help. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p3">
  <span class="s2">“You wouldn’t happen to have any Intergalactic bombs left, would you?”</span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p3">
  <span class="s2">The Sales Associate pointed at our display and the Angels face immediately lit up. She marched over to our display and plucked my darling from beside me, placing her in a paper bag. It was my worst nightmare come true. She turned and started towards the register and with every step the crushing fear and pain I had been putting off pressed down upon me. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p3">
  <em>
    <span class="s3">Please</span>
  </em>
  <span class="s2">. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p3">
  <span class="s2">She stopped. Turned back towards my display. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p3">
  <em>
    <span class="s3">Please just take me too. </span>
  </em>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p3">
  <span class="s2">She bit her lip and shuffled in place, clearly at odds with herself. She looked at me then down at the bag containing my beloved. After what felt like an eternity, she walked back over and snatched me off the shelf, shoving me in the bag with my love. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p3">
  <span class="s2">I heard her partner laugh and ask her why she went back. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p3">
  <span class="s2">“I just didn’t want him to be alone.”</span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p3">
  <span class="s2">—</span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p3">
  <span class="s2">Nobody warned me about what happens after you go to the Discontinued Place. I assumed that I would go to my new home for a short time before meeting the Bath. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p3">
  <span class="s2">It’s not like that at all. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p3">
  <span class="s2">We were shoved into plastic bags and placed in a dark drawer with a multitude of other Bath Bombs. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p3">
  <span class="s2">I was fortunately placed beside my love but I still longed for the days that I could feel her against me without plastic barriers between us. I missed her minty scent. I had prayed for more time but I didn’t know it would be like this. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p3">
  <span class="s2">We stayed in the drawer for an immeasurable amount of time. We watched as Bath Bombs were removed to be taken to the Bath. Sometimes new Bath Bombs arrived to replace them. I wondered if we would ever leave the drawer. I wondered which of us would go first. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p3">
  <span class="s2">My love grew older beside me. I watched her colors fade away until she was dull and the stark pink of her crown no longer stood out. I wondered if I had aged just as much in that drawer. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p3">
  <span class="s2">Then one day, the drawer opened and there was the Angel. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p3">
  <span class="s2">“Bot says something minty...”</span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p3">
  <span class="s2">She dug through the drawers quickly, accidentally knocking me away from my love. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p3">
  <span class="s2">“Oh here we go!”</span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p3">
  <span class="s2">I felt myself being pulled out of the drawer and my plastic bag removed. It was my time. I had always known I would go alone. I knew that my time spent with my love was only borrowed. It was a ridiculous notion to ever hope that we could have gone together. It didn’t make the separation any less painful. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p3">
  <span class="s2">The Angel paused. She bit her lip the same way she did in my Store so long ago. Then she reached down and pulled my beloved out of the drawer too. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p3">
  <span class="s2">We were going to the Bath together. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p3">
  <span class="s2">It was bittersweet feeling. I knew that after this we would never see one another again but the miracle of being able to go together made it hard for me to fully succumb to that sadness. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p3">
  <span class="s2">The Angel held us both in one hand and I enjoyed the feeling of my love beside me one last time. I could feel the heat from the water as we were lowered in. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p3">
  <span class="s2">It is a curious feeling to feel yourself fizz away. I had sometimes wondered if it would be painful. It isn’t painful at all. As my layer started to melt away, I just felt lighter and more alive. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p3">
  <span class="s2">I felt free. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p3">
  <span class="s2">I danced across the bath leaving trails of color behind me. I spun and bounced off walls, hoping my love could see that my dance was for her. It was all the words I couldn’t say. She danced right along beside me, answering my feelings with her own. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p3">
  <em>
    <span class="s3">I love you, I love you, I have always loved you. </span>
  </em>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p3">
  <span class="s2">I felt myself getting smaller and I knew time was running out. My beloved zoomed away from me and I watched as she spun in the center of the Bath. Layers of age had stripped away, revealing her vibrant colors underneath. She was beautiful. The most beautiful thing I had ever seen. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p3">
  <span class="s2">I needed to get to her. I needed to be beside her in these final moments. I raced towards her feeling myself getting smaller and smaller the closer I got. She rushed towards me and we met in the middle. Circling each other. Watching each other in our final seconds. Our layers of color were intermingling, creating the most beautiful art. We danced around each other and watched as we faded away together. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p3">
  <span class="s2">Smaller and smaller until we were nothing but wisps of pigment. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p3">
  <span class="s2">Smaller and smaller until we were nothing. </span>
</p>
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